Applied and Trusted Ways To Secure WordPress Site From Attack

While running a WordPress site, Security is something which should always be taken into consideration. In order to ensure that your site and data are secure, you need to have a solid foundation that keeps your site away from hackers and spammers. With a strong community of users and developers to further improve the platform, businesses have started hiring WordPress developers who actually understand the ins and outs, make regular updates to fix bugs, security holes, and vulnerabilities. Additionally, there are some practical ways available using which you can secure your WordPress site from attack and increase the security. Let’s give a look

Utilizing latest WordPress versions

The most obvious security measure you can take is running the latest version of any platform being used to display business globally. With over 80-85% of WordPress installations running outdated, this is one important aspect covered under WordPress security that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Whenever a WordPress site gets updated, it brings along itself a rich set of features, improved bug fixes and security fixes to keep your site safe against easy to exploit susceptibility.

Installing Updated Themes and Plugins

Running the latest version of CMS alone is not enough, instead updating it with the latest themes and plugins can safeguard your site. WordPress is featured with capabilities to extend the functionalities of your site by providing thousand of themes and plugins. Security plugins should be checked before use to see if they are updated frequently. When choosing themes and plugins, you need to be selective to opt for the one matching the functionality of your business. By doing so, you will automatically be reducing your site’s attack surface.

Restricting Login Attempts

There are a few plugins available that can handle the job well by monitoring the number of incorrect login attempts. These plugins once installed keep your site safe against brute force attacks. Some of the popular ones are- Limit Login Attempts, User Locker, Better WP Security, Login Lock, iThemes Security and so on.

Choosing The Right Hosting Platform

According to the research findings made online, approx 40% of hacking attempts are caused due to a security vulnerability on a hosting platform. Therefore, when choosing a hosting company, emphasis should be given on the one that-

Includes WordPress Optimized Firewall

Has Malware scanning and intrusive file detection

Supports the latest version of PHP and MySQL

Provides Account Isolation

There are several hosting companies that offer daily internal backups as well to keep your site renovated with the added functionalities.

Using Secured Username and Password

The usage of uncommon, not so particular, and difficult to guess usernames and passwords across all your accounts secures WordPress login in the most efficient ways. You should also enable 2-factor authentication (2FA) on your WordPress site. Rather than relying on a single password alone, 2FA adds an extra layer of security to your WordPress accounts. This, in turn, provides strong authentication and dramatically enhances your site security.

Using .htaccess for WordPress Security

Wp-config.php is one of the most important files on your blog, which has all the information required to access your important database, password, username, server name, and so on. Protecting the wp-cofig.php is extremely important. The .htaccess root file located at the root of WordPress installation should always be made secure by backing it up. These files in a way act as one of the best tools by preventing unwanted access.

Changing Database Prefix

WordPress database contains every single information making it easy for the hackers to target. Spammers run automated codes for SQL injections. The best way to protect your database is by changing the database prefix which is set at wp_ by default. While installing WordPress on your site, you need to open your wp-config.php file located in WordPress root directory and change the table prefix line from wp_ to wp_a56789_ to neutralize the security risks.

Password Protecting the WordPress Admin Directory

One of the possible vulnerabilities is the ability of a hacker to gain access to admin directory. The best way to help out is adding username and password protection after which the site owner will be prompted for password protection and username twice while accessing the admin area. The first prompt will be from the server trying to access admin while the second will be from WordPress itself.

Summing It Up

With emerging and existing ways to harden WordPress Security, businesses need to adopt the best ones which can be implemented in a minimum time period. Known as one of the popular CMS on the web, WordPress security counts to be a serious concern. By following the ways given above, you are not only preventing malicious activity but also web servers from being accessed by an attacker. By keeping WordPress website security as one of the top priorities, you will get a better control over web content and also trust from the targeted audiences.

Bryan Lazaris, an expert WordPress developer at HireWebDeveloper is passionate about writing for WordPress security issues to let other developers apply the same for developing sites that focus on security and performance. He shares knowledge which is practical, well-researched, accurate and has some factual data.